Truls MÖREGÅRDH and Linda BERGSTRÖM of Sweden successfully commenced their journey in Munich at the Mixed Doubles Event at the European Championships. In the Preliminary Round of 32 they overcame Toomas LIBENE and Airi AVAMERI of Estonia after full five games.
On whether it is helpful to have got a preliminary round match having only played one tournament with Bergstrom before one year ago Truls said:
“Of course. It’s tough when you haven’t played that much together so then it’s pretty nice to get to play a preliminary round match. That’s good for us to get to play a little feel the hall and the ball and all of that before playing the seeded pairs tomorrow. That’s always special. If we improve a couple of notches which I’m sure we will then we’ll be dangerous.”
On starting his European Championships Munich 2022 in a dramatic fashion winning 3-2:
“You get a bit of pulse to it that’s always nice. Estonians put pressure on us throughout the whole game and stuck to their tactics. They did it when it was 9-6 in those sets too and then it’s tough. You need to always play well. As soon as we lower our level a bit they’re going to take that chance which they did.”
Asked what it would have been like to lose Truls said:
“Then I’ve got no idea of what we would have done in the four coming days. I would’ve had to stroll around and have a look at the Olympic Park or something. It would have been sad. So it is really nice to come away with a win here.”
Whilst favorites from Sweden justified their rankings it was bitter story for the player with most of the medals in Mixed Doubles at the europeans in the 21st century – Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC who paired up with Sabina SURJAN this time. They lost to Carlos CABALLERO and Sofia ZHANG after another full distance match.
Among the winners are Benedikt DUDA and Sabine WINTER of Germany Austria’s Daniel HABESOHN and Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA as well as Finland’s – Netherland’s combination of Benedek OLÁH and Britt EERLAND.
“It’s a really nice feeling to play in front of the home crowd. I think the atmosphere will get even better because so far we’re in the qualification and I think the further the tournament goes more people will come and cheer for Germany and I’m really looking forward to that “said Sabine WINTER.”I’ve been looking forward to this competition a lot. You do not always play in front of a home crowd and you also don’t have a multi-sport event very often. I even come from 30 kilometers from Munich so it is like my home. It is nice for me that I can play such a big tournament in Munich.”
On her ambitions at the European Championships Munich 2022:
“I saw the medals here are very nice and I want to go home with one of them.”
DUDA also underlined how good is to win in front of home crowd: “It is always special to play the European championships. It doesn’t matter where it is. But if you play for Germany in Germany it is very special. The whole arena is for you. They’re cheering for you and pushing you to your limits and I think it is a good advantage for us for the next round.”
On losing one game to Italy’s Jordy PICCOLIN and Debora VIVARELLI winning the match 3-1:
“In the second (game) we were doing just a few too many serve receive mistakes too easy mistakes on the first two balls. But in the end we were very clear and didn’t make too many mistakes. We also played some good rallies and at the end it (their play) worked.”
